Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Time Walk can easily avoid Invoker's combo damage if doesn't have disables.
* Chronosphere will reveal Invoker during Ghost Walk.
* All of Invoker's hidden cooldowns are affected by Time Dilation, so Faceless Void can easily slow him down a lot.
Additional:
* Time Dilation prevents Invoker from further invoking for the entire duration of the debuff, as well as massively slowing Invoker based on the large amount of spells he has.
* Time Walk will completely negate Invoker's combo damage.
* If Invoker is caught in Chronosphere, he will most likely be the primary target due to the large teamfight contribution he can provide.
Mars
* Time Dilation while Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Mars nearly useless.
* Mars cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the back, bypassing Bulwark completely.
Additional:
* Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
* Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
* Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Nether Ward on its own can greatly hinder Invoker from casting many of his abilities, at least until he gets a significant amount of HP or is under the protection of spell immunity from
Black King Bar
* Life Drain provides True sight, revealing Invoker through Ghost Walk, and forcing him or his allies to use an ability or item to interrupt its channeling
* Outside of Nether Ward's range, Invoker shall have the advantage, as Invoker has Tornado to purge Pugna's Decrepify when it is used defensively, Tornado or Cold Snap to prevent Pugna from channeling
Life Drain
* A poorly used Decrepify on Pugna's allies means Invoker's abilities can be used to deal more damage to them.
Additional:
* Because Invoker relies on casting a large amount of spells to contribute to fights, Nether Ward can force him to not cast anything at all or take a large amount of damage to cast spells.
Mars
* Nether Blast,
Decrepify and
Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
* Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Heroes with abilities which have a built-in spell immunity: Lifestealer,
Juggernaut,
Pangolier.
Mars
* Swashbuckle is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Shield Crash upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Rolling Thunder makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out of Mars' Arena Of Blood.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Tidebringer pressures Invoker easily in lane due to Invoker's low health and armor in the early game.
Mars
* Kunkka's
Ghostship and
Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Astral Imprisonment allows Outworld Destroyer to save himself or ally from Invoker's combo, or remove Invoker from a fight temporarily.
* Arcane Orb's pure damage will deal a lot of damage against Invoker's mediocre strength gain.
* EMP is useless against Outworld Destroyer by activating Equilibrium.
* However, be aware that Sanity's Eclipse will most likely not deal any damage at all, due to Invoker's high intelligence gain compared to Outworld Destroyer's.
Mars
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
Invoker
* Any heroes with high intelligence, such as Invoker and
Pugna.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.4 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* In the early to mid game, Invoker is defenseless against Storm Spirit's ganking with Ball Lightning and
Orchid Malevolence.
Mars
* Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
* Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit's abilities all do magical damage, which can bypass Bulwark.
* Ball Lightning can escape through
Arena of Blood and it is easy to dodge
Spear of Mars.
Invoker
* Heroes with mana burn: Nyx Assassin,
Invoker,
Outworld Destroyer,
Pugna,
Lion
Bane
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Mars
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Quas-Exort Invoker is also a good matchup due to the fact he has no Wex to run faster due to the movement impairment on his stealth. The
Forge Spirit and
Cold Snap combo doesn't harm her as well since you can drain Invoker's HP with Spirit Siphon which forces him to retreat.
* Silence also prevents Invoker from using Invoke or casting his main spells temporarily. There is no way Invoker can block it unless he has
Eul's Scepter of Divinity to cyclone himself or has help from allies.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Mars
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
* Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
* Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
Additional:
* Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Invoker
* Invoker is heavily dependent on his spells, making him useless during Global Silence, as well as interrupting Invoker during his combo.
* Arcane Curse is particularly deadly, because Invoker will continuously lose health if he keeps invoking and casting new spells.
* Last Word will silence Invoker when he casts Invoke, interrupting his combo.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Firestorm and
Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
* Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
* Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
* Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside Arena of Blood
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Nyx Assassin takes advantage of Invoker's massive intelligence gain and mana pool to do tons of damage using Mana Burn, as the spell does more damage based on the target's intelligence.
* Nyx Assassin can simply activate Spiked Carapace while under many Invoker's abilities to stun him.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy
Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a
Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Earth Spirit is a dangerous foe to encounter for Invoker in the early stages of the game. Since Invoker needs to gain levels as fast as possible and is not very strong in the early game, Earth Spirit can use his incredible early game power to gank Invoker and ruin his game plan.
* Earth Spirit combines stuns and silences with his spells and can apply them from a great distance. This is bad for Invoker as he is dependent on a smart usage of his spells with Invoke and Earth Spirit can disrupt his combos easily.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and
Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of
Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper receive less damage from Invoker's spells
* Viper can harass Invoker with his Poison Attack in the early game.
* Viper Strike and
Poison Attack can kill Invoker easily if Ghost Walk is on cooldown.
Mars
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using
Nethertoxin inside
Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars' initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* Beware that Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
Invoker
* Ice Wall and
Ghost Walk can be used to kite and escape from Viper.
* Chaos Meteor and
Sun Strike deal heavy damage and can quickly bring Viper down.
* Cold Snap,
Tornado, and
Deafening Blast are powerful disables that reduce Viper's effectiveness.
* EMP burns Viper's limited mana pool, reducing his potential poison damage.
* Forge Spirits can melt Viper's armor and reduce his durability.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* It is difficult for Mars to trade blows with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
* Bloodlust can assist Ogre Magi or an ally in repositioning against Mars for its move speed bonus.
* Fireblast can interrupt and mitigate Mars from performing his skill combos, especially in combination with
Multicast.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with
Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Templar Assassin can easily counter Invoker's last hitting process in the early game with Refraction.
Refraction also negates the stun from Cold Snap, since it will need to deal damage in order to apply its stun.
* Additionally, Refraction completely blocks damage from Sun Strike should Invoker try to finish her off, provided she activate Refraction beforehand.
Queen of Pain
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* Queen of Pain usually outlanes Invoker, giving her team a significant early game advantage while Invoker is still farming.
* Blink allows Queen of Pain to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Nukers who have set amounts of damage will really struggle against Lone Druid especially in True Form: Puck,
Void Spirit,
Mars.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Ursa is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with
Enrage, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
Oracle
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Slardar
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Bounty Hunter and
Slardar both have ultimates (
Corrosive Haze and
Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Invoker
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Broodmother can kill Invoker easily in the early game with her Spawn Spiderlings and her spiderlings.
* Broodmother is both an Orchid Malevolence and a
Nullifier carrier. As she can farm it early, she can kill Invoker easily.
Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Anti-Mage's mobility and magic resistance make him nearly impossible to kill alone.
* Invoker's spells cost a lot of mana, and Invoker himself has a lot of mana. This means Invoker and his team are vulnerable to Mana Void's heavy damage.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to escape from Invoker's combo if he doesn't have disables.
Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Decay,
Soul Rip and
Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
* Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
Invoker
* Invoker's multiple spells can lock down Undying and disable him from doing much.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Crippling Fear is a good way to shut down and gank Invoker in the early game..
* Void deals good damage to Invoker and makes escaping harder.
* With Hunter in the Night and
Void, Invoker can't get away from Night Stalker and won't be able to catch him with Sun Strike during the night.
Mars
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight,
Mars,
Centaur Warrunner.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
* Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and
Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
* Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
* Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Marci
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Rebound allows her to jump in or out of the Arena Of Blood. She can save her allies from the Arena with Dispose as well.
Invoker
* Heroes that can keep Marci for a long time in one place so she can't pursue her targets, like Bane,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Invoker,
Disruptor and
Kunkka.
Doom
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Doom completely takes Invoker out of a team fight, a hero who relies heavily on using abilities and items to contribute in team fights.
Additional:
* Doom is a good way to shut down Invoker, preventing from casting spells and using items for a lengthy time, thus forcing him to invest on
Linken's Sphere.
Mars
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.2 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden,
Enchantress,
Gyrocopter,
Lion,
Riki,
Techies,
Terrorblade,
Necrophos,
Invoker.
Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Invoker
* Tinker is relatively helpless against Invoker, as his Rearm and
Boots of Travel can be easily interrupted by Invoker's long range disables, even if he blinks away.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Invoker's arsenal of magical spells are troublesome for Sniper who has low HP and high armor, which does not benefit him much against Invoker.
* Besides magical damage, he can be disarmed and repeatedly mini-stunned with Cold Snap, preventing him from reacting.
* Leveling Quas can allow Invoker to lane effectively against Sniper despite right-click harassment.
Mars
* Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and
Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
* Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Heroes who can summon illusions and summons because Terrorblade has no abilities to deal with multiple enemies at once outside Reflection: Shadow Shaman,
Naga Siren,
Broodmother,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Chaos Knight,
Phantom Lancer,
Shadow Demon,
Dark Seer,
Nature's Prophet,
Invoker,
Morphling,
Visage,
Grimstroke with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Mars
* Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
* God's Rebuke and Spear of Mars can decimate Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Invoker
* Heroes with long animations can be frequently interrupted with Cold Snap: Earthshaker,
Monkey King,
Shadow Fiend
Lina
Mars
* If visible, Mars can knock Monkey King off his Tree Dance with God's Rebuke, as well as Spear of Mars. Arena of Blood also destroys a large swath of trees, which can disrupt Monkey King's positioning and turn him vulnerable should he choose to hide in trees.
* Mars can endure Jingu Mastery attacks simply by facing him with Bulwark.
* Mars can end Wukong's Command early by displacing Monkey King with a well-thrown Spear of Mars. Mars can also endure most of his clones with Bulwark.
Additional:
* Monkey King's natural reliance on trees makes him an exceptionally prime target for Spear of Mars. Should Monkey King use Mischief to disguise himself, it will still hit him, stunning him in the process.
* God's Rebuke easily pushes Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Invoker
* Heroes with powerful area-of-effect disables can initiate on Meepo and his clones and shut him down, such as Enigma,
Invoker,
Magnus,
Puck, and
Sand King.
Mars
* Bulwark blocks the attack from Meepo and his clones.
* Spear of Mars &
God's Rebuke prevents Meepo and his clones from initiation or escaping.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.4 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Medusa's
Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
Invoker
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Medusa's mana to weaken Mana Shield.
* Medusa's lack of mobility makes her easy to kite with Invoker's spells.
Additional:
* EMP is a large mana burn nuke which can hit Medusa's Mana shield with enough damage to lose even more mana.
* Deafening Blast disarms Medusa's ability to deal pseudo-AOE damage during teamfights.
* Cold Snap allows the opposing team to repeatedly stun Medusa in short succession, preventing her from successfully casting her ultimate due to its long cast time.
Mars
* Bulwark can make each of Medusa's attacks target him instead, reducing Medusa's contribution on team fights.
* Spear of Mars stuns Medusa and also pushes her away from teamfights, taking advantage of Medusa's low mobility.
* Arena Of Blood blocks Medusa's attacks from outside the arena.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Invoker
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King,
Medusa,
Dawnbreaker.
Mars
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King,
Medusa,
Dawnbreaker.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Alchemist
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Quas-
Exort Invoker can win the mid lane easily against Alchemist because
Quas regeneration will nullify Acid Spray's damage over time and
Exort damage bonus will allow Invoker to out last hit Alchemist.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Invoker
* Cold Embrace is the perfect setup for all his nukes - Chaos Meteor,
EMP and especially global
Sun Strike.
Spirit Breaker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
* Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
* Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
Wraith King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Wraith King's mana to prevent Reincarnation from triggering (only until Wraith King gets his Aghanim's Shard).
* Ice Wall and Cold Snap are particularly crippling for Wraith King as they allow to kite him very effectively, preventing him from dealing melee attack damage.
Additional:
* Invoker can drain Wraith King's mana with EMP, preventing him from reincarnating unless Wraith King has his Aghanim's Shard.
* Even if Wraith King survives and reincarnates, Invoker still has an arsenal of spells to lockdown Wraith King, including an easily setup Ice Wall.
* Tornado applies an area dispel to clear skeletons.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
* Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
Primal Beast
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Invoker
* Invoker's numerous area-of-effect abilities can interrupt Primal Beast, especially while he is in the middle of a team fight, where Primal Beast thrives. (Tornado,
Cold Snap, and
Ice Wall all help to disable Primal Beast and control him from a distance.
* EMP disintegrates Primal Beast's low mana pool.
* However, Invoker is quite a slow paced hero and not particularly known for being survivable against a rampaging Primal Beast with Black King Bar.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
* If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
* The Swarm and
Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
Slark
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Mars
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do. He may even force her to cast Haunt as an escape, putting it on a long cooldown.
* Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage with Bulwark and can mitigate some of the chaos caused by her Haunt illusions with God's Rebuke.
Arc Warden
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Invoker's Forge Spirit can negate
Flux.
* Provided he does a right combo with Chaos Meteor, Invoker can easily burst down Arc Warden (plus his clone if he spawns it.)
* An early Orchid Malevolence can shut down Arc Warden pretty hard, especially when Invoker has a good lane against him if he kills him early on.
* Deafening Blast and
Ice Wall limit's Arc Wardens mobility and damage, crippling him greatly.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: -0.8 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with long lockdowns: Shadow Shaman,
Legion Commander.
Mars
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with
Press the Attack and is a good
Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal
Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with
Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
Invoker
* Invoker's spells will disable and destroy Legion Commander while she's locked in a Duel.
Mars
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark's effectiveness will be increased by a huge margin, which makes it much more difficult for Legion Commander to win any duels against him.
* Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka,
Disruptor,
Mars.
Sven
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Tiny
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 13%)Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with forced movement abilities or non-interrupting forced movement, such as Lion,
Drow Ranger,
Magnus,
Mars, as they can cancel blast-off mid air, removing his ability to initiate or escape.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Invoker
* Heroes with silence and mana drain abilites, as Ancient Apparition relies entirely on his abilities: Invoker,
Silencer,
Nyx Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Shadow Shaman,
Lion and etc.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Lich
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Earthshaker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Invoker
* Invoker's
EMP is extremely effective against Earthshaker due to his low natural mana.
Io
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Invoker
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Invoker
* Cold Snap can prevent Timbersaw from using both Timber Chain and Chakram due to the frequent stuns interrupting the lengthy cast animations, as well as stopping him mid-chain. This can negate Timbersaw's attempts to escape or dole out extra ability damage.
* Later in the game, Invoker's heavy magical and pure damage can be difficult to avoid, meaning Timbersaw's armor is less useful.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -0.4 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Invoker
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet,
Riki,
Drow Ranger.
Mars
* As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
* With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Invoker
* Heroes who can clear the waves of Enigma's Eidolons: Lina,
Luna,
Dawnbreaker,
Jakiro,
Shadow Shaman,
Death Prophet,
Keeper of the Light,
Invoker,
Leshrac,
Puck.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Invoker
* Blade Fury, similar to Rage, grants immunity to Invoker's spells and can dispel some debuffs as well.
* Omnislash renders Juggernaut invulnerable to Invoker's spells and can easily take Invoker down.
Additional:
* Juggernaut's instant spell immunity from Blade Fury. helps him dodge Invoker's combos. He can dispel the disables from
Cold Snap and
Deafening Blast and dodge the damage from
Chaos Meteor, as well as walk through
Ice Wall.
* Juggernaut's high DPS allows him to kill split pushing Forge Spirit(s) effortlessly, and his high armor prevents them from being a threat to him.
* However, Invoker can hit Juggernaut with Sun Strike through
Blade Fury, making the
Tornado and
Sun Strike combo a threat if he does not dodge
Tornado.
Mars
* Bulwark mitigates
Omnislash which deals physical damage, severely reducing its damage.
* Omnislash switch to opposite direction with each slash, so Mars can easily reduce most of its damage.
* However because {Ability ID:Blade Fury|Juggernaut} gives spell immunity Juggernaut can easily escape from {Ability ID:Arena Of Blood|Mars}.
Additional:
* Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
* Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
Invoker
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* EMP allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him from using his abilities constantly
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Invoker
* Bounty Hunter and
Slardar both have ultimates (
Corrosive Haze and
Track) that reveal Invoker through Ghost Walk.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Invoker
* Some heroes with extreme range, like Zeus,
Invoker or
Clockwerk, can snipe your allies from anywhere after your Grave has expired.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
* Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
Invoker
* Quas Exort Invoker has high physical damage in the form of Cold Snap and Forged Spirits that allows him to trade hits with Huskar.
* Although Huskar can dispel Cold Snap with Life Break.
* Sun Strike deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity, and Huskar tends to drain his HP, making him a susceptible target.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Invoker
* Heroes with naturally low mana can be easily shut down by EMP: Sven,
Tiny,
Wraith King,
Omniknight
Additional:
* Tornado dispels Heavenly Grace and Guardian Angel from multiple targets.
* Guardian Angel is generally useless against Invoker as he primarily relies on magical damage.
* EMP depletes Omniknight's already small mana pool.
* Invoker's many disables keep Omniknight's team occupied until Guardian Angel times out.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
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Invoker
*
Rage grants immunity from Invoker's spells and can dispel most of the disables such as the armor loss from Forge Spirit and the constant stuns of Cold Snap.
Sun Strike).
Additional:
* Rage protects Lifestealer from all of Invoker's spells (except for
Mars
*
Rage, acting as a pseudo-
Black King Bar, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
Feast does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
Infest allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.
*
*